Chapter 177 177: Cheating Your Way Into The Temple [Pt1]
Enma breathed a sigh of relief as soon as Elysia's attention was diverted away from him. But what did not sit well with him was that Elysia was bleeding. Her hand was red and wet with her blood.
Talking with the Queen had set Elysia on the edge and now she was even unconsciously practicing self-harm.
Enma was not sure if Elysia was pitiful or on her way to becoming a villainess. What he did know was that Enma needed to stop Elysia's bleeding before the bloody loss hit her.
"Y-You are bleeding. Hurry, come after me and we shall get you treated right now. Lucas would kill me if he saw you bleeding like this."
Enma knew that there was no way he should have been able to pull Elysia after he had not allowed it to happen. Her dazed eyes were looking at her bleeding hand with fascination.
Now Enma was no doctor but even he knew that this was not a good sign for Elysia's mental health. He needed to distract her before she did something even worse.historical
"O-Oi Elysia, you never told me why we came here, right? If you tell me then I can help you out in some way."
For a good minute, Enma was afraid that Elysia would not reply to him.
But his worries faded away when Elysia blinked her eyes a few times at his question and that detached look on her face went away.
Before he knew it, the regular Elysia was back in place and she looked alarmed by her bleeding hand. She hissed as the sting of her injury finally hit her.
"S-Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts there for a second. Don't worry about this small injury of mine since I have potions to treat it."
Elysia took out a small potion, the only remedy that currently worked on her since holy magic did not
The potion did not heal Elysia fully but it did heal her enough to make the wound stop bleeding and Elysia bandaged it tightly. The mark would heal in a few days if she was careful.
Enma considered himself lucky that this small injury had not led to anything bigger. He had no idea how he would be able to explain everything to Sorias otherwise.
'And if Sorias thinks that it is my fault, he will shred me alive as he does to the monsters on our live hunts. Why does he insist on taking me along to those dreadful tasks?'
Enma was a little lost in his thoughts and tried to find ways to divert Sorias's wrath. So you will have to excuse him when he failed to detect Elysia's gaze on him.
"Enma, you said that you will help me out, right?"
Elysia's voice was sugary sweet. It was bringing shivers down Enma's back and he realized that he was in trouble.
'Don't turn around. Pretend like you did not hear Elysia. Maybe if I pretended like I did not hear her then Elysia would not ask me to do something dangerous.'
He was praying hard to any god who would hear him. Enma did not believe in gods but he was willing to give them a try now.
But of course, that did not happen, and Elysia did not stop looking at Enma in that weird way. She was not going to back down unless Enma cooperated with them.
'I am so doomed.'
Emma felt his heart give a painful beat as he turned toward Elysia. He did not want to do Elysia any favor.
"E-Elysia, will it be too much if I ask you to reconsider..."
Of course, Elysia was only going to smile and not say anything. And that unnerved Enma more than anything else. Elysia's smile was getting scary by the second.
In the end, he had to give in and do as Elysia wanted him to.
'Why did I make the mistake of thinking Elysia was any different from Lucas Dirac? Now I realized that both of them are cut from the same cloth and ready to use by someone if needed. I cannot believe I am thinking this but Sorias might be the best person in my group.'
Enma was troubled but that did not stop him from rushing toward the male dorms to get some priest robes.
His only advantage was that he had been in this temple before so he knew where he was going at all times.
He ducked behind a pillar as soon as he saw the priests come his way. He was not going to risk being recognized by anyone.
And slowly, Enma made his way to the dorms and he picked up the offered clothes. He was about to head back out when curious eyes fell on him and decided to follow after him.
////////////////////////////////////
Elysia had a lot of feelings about using Enma like this but none of them showed up on her face.
The plan Elysia had come up with was simple. All she needed was to get her hands on some men's clothing and then make her delivery. It was clear that the person she was supposed to deliver this parcel to was in the male building.
She had heard about the temple section or the Akatsuki kingdom before. It was divided into male and female segments and both of them had their responsibilities.
But all the officials who dealt with the artifacts were in the male segment. It was so much different from the empire but it also paid homage to the Akatsuki kingdom's culture.
As such, Elysia could only depend on a male like Enma to get her to the men's section.
And speaking of Enma, she could finally see him running back out with the priests' robes in his arms. He was running as fast as his short legs would take him.
"H-Here, your clothes. Hurry up and change into them."
Enma handed the clothes over to Elysia, waiting for her to take the burden from his hands. He did not want to be caught with the priests' lost robes in his hand.
If someone happened to see him then it would be the end of Enma and his reputation. He could not take this risk openly so he wanted to hand this robe over as soon as possible.
Enma sweated as he watched Elysia not take his offered robes. He was not sure what Elysia was paying at but she was scaring him.
"H-Hurry up and take this burden off my hand."
In the end, it was Enma who spoke up and threw the robes in Elysia's hand. She took it with an impish grin as she ducked behind the pillar.
There was no one else in the hallway but Enma and he was currently a kid. Maybe that was what gave Elysia the courage to change her clothes behind the pillar that barely hide her form.
She had only undressed to her inner robes and Enma was not able to see it but he still wanted to try and get a view of her half-naked self.
After all, Elysia might be unattainable to Enma because of his status and age but that did not mean he was going to miss the opportunity to perve on a beautiful girl.
He might be a child but he had the brain of a raging teenager.
Enma was about to head out and check on Elysia when she stepped out from behind the pillar. Maybe it was the magic she used or maybe she was just that talented at cross-dressing but Elysia could pass off as a pretty boy right now.
Her long hair had been pulled back into a low ponytail and a pair of glasses supported her eyes. The robes of the temple were more like a Chinese priest grab he had seen on TV and was fastened on Elysia's thin waste.
"Somehow, you got my fitting right. You did a nice job Enma."
Elysia beamed back at him which caused Enma to turn his head away. He could no longer take her cheerful attitude aimed his way.
Just because Enma's heart had skipped a beat did not mean he wanted to keep on looking at Elysia's innocent face.
He did not have a death wish after all.
"Now then, it is time to head in and finish my job."
Enma was sure that a lot of girls would have fainted after seeing Elysia. She was the spitting image of the 'pretty boy' that you often saw on those Korean Idea shows.
'Wow, Elysia looks like a boy right now. I would have thought twice about her being a girl but I won't have questioned her validity as a boy openly.'
"You there, wait a minute. I need to talk with you."
Elysia was about to enter the temple hallways with confidence when that voice stopped both her and Enma.
It was a familiar voice Enma was sure he had heard before. But it was not striking him in the brain right then. Why was Enma not able to remember who this person was?